The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (1-0, Big East) won its season opener against St. Joseph’s (0-1, A-10), 18-15 on a rain-soaked Cooper Field. Junior attacker Taylor Gebhardt led the way with four goals, while junior midfielder Francesca Whitehurst and sophomore attacker Michaela Bruno scored hat tricks. St. Joe’s freshman attacker Stephanie Kelly had a hat trick for the Hawks, but they couldn’t stop the streaky Hoya offense on the day.
“Our whole offensive system is based on everybody being involved and engaged,” Georgetown head coach Ricky Fried said of the many different scorers. “That should happen for us, so I’m pleased on the first day that that did happen.”
Georgetown began the game with a 6-1 run, forcing the Hawks into an early timeout. Bruno and senior midfielder Rachel Rausa had two goals each as St. Joe’s couldn’t establish any rhythm on offense. After the timeout, however, the Hawks battled their way back, led by two goals from Kelly, to cut the deficit to just one goal. Freshman midfielder Taylor Newman-Farr hit the crossbar with a bouncing shot for the Hawks, nearly equalizing. However, Gebhardt would grab her second goal as the half came to a close to give the Hoyas an 8-6 lead heading into the break, despite the added pressure from St. Joe’s.
The second half resembled the first in many ways. After an early goal by Newman-Farr, the Hoyas scored five unanswered in a six minute span to take a six goal advantage and force the Hawks into another timeout. Bruno and Gebhardt completed their hat tricks in the run, and Whitehurst added her first two goals when the Hoyas looked to run away with the game, but the Hawks would come roaring back again. A 6-1 run made the score 14-13 Georgetown, but the Hawks would come no closer.
“I think it’s more a mentality for us than it is anything that they did, which is positive,” Fried said. “That’s something we can work on.”
The teams traded goals before Gebhardt notched her fourth of the afternoon. St. Joe’s leading scorer of last season, junior midfielder Rebecca Lane, scored her second goal of the game before sophomore attacker Emily Ehle scored to add to her four assists. Senior midfielder Hannah Seibel added one more to give the Hoyas extra breathing room, and the game ended with Georgetown running out most of the clock for the 18-15 win.
“I liked the energy we played with throughout the game,” Fried said. “No such thing as a bad win.”
The Hoyas return to action on Saturday at No. 20 Towson (1-0, CAA) at 3 p.m. ET. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for game day updates and breaking news.
